Lens reviews update: test data for the Zeiss Otus 1.4/55

DxOMark has just reviewed the Zeiss Otus 1.4/55, a $4000 standard prime for full frame SLRs, and as part of our ongoing collaboration we've added the test data to our lens widget. We've also added test data for the Nikon mount version of Sigma's exceptional 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM.

Zeiss Otus 1.4/55 lens test data

Here we're showing DxOmark's lens test data for the Zeiss Otus 55mm F1.4 on both the full frame D800 and the DX format D7100, along with a quick summary of the main findings. We're also showing a quick comparison to the AF-S Nikkor 58mm f/1.4G, which isn't quite as expensive, but still costs more than most camera bodies.

Click on any of the images or links below to open our interactive lens widget, and explore the data further

1) Tested on Nikon D800

On the D800, the Zeiss Otus 1.4/55 gives a simply breathtaking performance. It's super-sharp even wide open, and impressively even across the frame too. It's so good that stopping it down doesn't make a huge difference on measured sharpness here - the centre peaks at F4, but it's not obvious that you'd see the difference in real-world shots.

In all other aspects the Otus does equally well. Lateral chromatic aberration is negligible, and while there's a little measurable barrel distortion, it's unlikely ever to be visible in real-world use. Vignetting reaches 1.6 stops wide open, but with a very gradual falloff profile which means it won't look objectionable. At F2 it drops to just 1 stop, and at F2.8 it drops to a photographically-irrelevent 0.5 stops.

Zeiss claims that "the Otus 1.4/55 is the absolute best lens in the world today", and can we see why the company is so confident about it (although we're pretty sure that Leica's latest APO-Summicron-M 50mm f/2 ASPH will give it a run for its money). We were hugely impressed by the Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM, but the Zeiss manages to surpass it in every measurement here. Then again it is more than four times the price, and doesn't have autofocus.

2) Tested on Nikon D7100

It's very much the same story on the DX format D7100 as on full frame. Sharpness is exceptional, chromatic aberration is very low, and vignetting and distortion are minimal. It's difficult to imagine any lens doing much better, in terms of optical test results.

3) Compared to the AF-S Nikkor 58mm f/1.4G

The difference in test results here is startling, and really accentuates the optical quality of the Zeiss. It's simply much, much sharper wide open, and while the Nikon has slightly lower vignetting, the Zeiss has less distortion. It's important to understand that the Nikon isn't a bad lens - the designers have clearly been thinking about more than just sharpness, and the images it produces on the D800 actually look really nice - but Zeiss's 'no compromises' approach shows what can be done when size and price are taken out of consideration in the overall design.

Sigma 18-35mm F1.4 DC HSM for Nikon test data

The test results for the Sigma 18-35mm on the Nikon D7100 merely reinforce the excellence of this lens that we highlighted in our in-depth review. Few zooms come close - in fact the Sigma is a match for a bag full of primes. Crucially, though, we've found the lens to focus more reliably on Nikon bodies compared to Canons, which allows you to make the most if the lens's wide open sharpness.

A comparison between test data on the Nikon D7100 and the Canon EOS 7D shows remarkable consistency of results. Measured sharpness is higher on the D7100 in the centre of the frame, due to its higher resolution 24MP sensor which doesn't have an image-blurring optical low-pass filter (compared to the Canon's 18MP). Other differences are very small, and can generally be attributed to the slightly larger size of the 1.5x Nikon DX sensor compared to Canon's 1.6x APS-C.

Overall, this data reinforces our opinion that the Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM is probably the standout lens of the year so far, for its combination of speed, image quality, and reasonably-accessible price.

Full test results on DxOMark (and other recent reviews)

Our lens test data is produced in collaboration with DxOMark. Click the links below to read DxOMark's own review of the Zeiss Otus 1.4/55, or see other recent reviews on the DxOMark website.

Comments

Amazing lens, especially on a d800e. All the people whining about the price and size are just jealous ameratures. It's a close to optically perfect professional f1.4 lense. If you can't afford it buy the Sigma. If they are both too big start going to the gym.

Here's how this needs to go down: Sell all your other gear except for one body and use the money to buy this lens. Then spend the rest of your life quietly exploring your creative vision with it. After you die, your kids--who always hated your hobby because they felt you loved photography more than you loved them--have a garage sale and sell your hard drives with all your photos on them. The buyer finds the photos on the hard drives, realizes you are a genius and calls the Museum of Modern Art which immediately clears out the main gallery and has a show of your work. You are proclaimed as "the Rembrandt of Photography" and your creative accomplishments live on forever. The end.

I'd still rather have the Nikon 58. The Otis may be razor sharp but it can't compete with the Nikon for rendering, bokeh, transitions, etc. It's just sterile.

Throw in the fact that it's twice the size of the Nikon, over twice the price & manual focus, it's a no brainer. But there's plenty of folks who prize sharpness over all else, so for them I'm sure it's a dream lens. Now lets see how many people actually buy it at $4k...

The most amazing thing about this lens will be all the finely tuned, fully-calibrated, micro-adjusted, pixel-peeped, flash-saturated 36MP lossless 14-bit cat photos that will come out of it. (See internet).

You mock, but you're righter than you know. This lens was designed to capture fine linear detail and what is more finely detailed, yet linear, than the individual hairs of cat fur. Instead of naming it Otus, they should have named it Catus.

People should stop whinging about the price of this amazing lens,it is still far cheaper than a Noctilux or Cron 50mm APO and they don't have A.F either,this is a brilliant piece of optical engineering and I will by buying one as soon as I have the greenbacks to spare.. Roll on the 85 and wide angle version's,, ;-)

Is there still doubt about that? The Zeiss has ca. two times better resolution @ f1.4. Quite amazing...

I was interested in the Nikkor 58mm until I saw some samples shot @ f1.4. Not worth it IMHO. And stopped down two stops to f2.8 there's so many cheaper alternatives with very good performance. Micro-Nikkor 55/2.8 AI-S shot at widest aperture renders very nice portraits too...

Try it before armchair quarterbacking it. It's an excellent lens even at 1.4. Sharper than other 50's at 1.4. And right across the frame which is key. The Zeiss is better, sure. Just as a Lamborghini is better than a Subaru. But it should be. Be it sucks in the snow and carrying more than 2 people. The Zeiss is touted as a no compromise lens, but no AF is a big compromise isn't it. Even MF lenses near the same price tag have AF, resolve much higher mp's and have more glass in them. If I were a hobbyist in a position to buy a $4000 Zeiss lens, I would reconsider buying into digital MF.

some amazing lenses being put out; i wonder if these companies creep online forums and listen to what some folk rant about. i dont understand on the comment about LFO... i understand fixing with a program isnt beneficial but theres tons of blue on both the Zeiss and Sigma.

Regardless of price and/or target audience, these companies are setting a bar to which Canikon has to reply to.

All lens designs have trade-offs even $4000 ones. The corner fall-off is probably in exchange for better corner sharpness. There are certainly other lenses that have close to the same center sharpness at f/1.4, but none that I have seen that can stand up in the corners.

To plevadophyYou are partially right - many mounts like the Nikon F Mount are quite narrow, in this case 44mm (as is four thirds at 44mm). However the Canon EF Mount which was a clean sheet design is wider at 54mm and this diameter was specifically chosen to allow the design of very fast lenses, e.g. 50mm f/1.0.However third party lens manufacturers tend to be limited by the constraints of the diameter of the smallest mount.

The Olympus SHG f/2.0 Zoom Lenses are the most deeply impressive optics I have ever used - more so than even the best Leica M lenses, and easily a match for this Zeiss Otus (though they of course won't do anything near an "equivalent" f/1.4 aperture).

Problem with four thirds, was that the technology to make really great small sensors came too late.

Good question. The (new) Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L II has *four stops* falloff in the corners. That puts it at f/1.4 in the centre, f/5.6 in the corners. That's a new record! Yet it's a $2000 lens currently being sold.

Then you have the opposite - a Olympus 14-35mm f/2.0 at 14mm and f/2.0 has about half a stop of falloff.

The Zeiss Otus thus does pretty well with 1.5 stops falloff for a f/1.4 lens.

Zeiss is betting/expecting that FF will eventually supplant MF.. 56mp FF will be the next jump in resolution, and that is only a few years away. The Otus line is being positioned as the premium, no-compromise lens of choice when this eventually happens.

This is the perfect lens for image generation. Still, even if I could afford it, I don't see myself walking around town with a massive 50 hanging off the camera. But the makro planar 50 compares quite well at f/2, so, if anything, makes that lens more desireable

Quite the opposite - moïre occurs when the resolving power of the lens is much greater than the sensor's. Any digital signal processing engineer in any domain - optical or audio - will tell you that omitting the low-pass filter is a *mistake* - I don't know why this has become so fashionable in camera.

Perhaps because it conveniently saves money for the manufacturer, and artificially boosts resolution test results…

Wow! I´m talking about the optical achivment here. This lens is still cheaper than cinematic lenses, so I guess it´s well worth this price.

And wow: Nikon, you lens ahhhm doesn´t look even close to the Zeiss measures ;) No offence. I´m sure it´s a good lens in it´s own rights even for ahm wait 1500$? I´m looking forward to see Nikons real picture taking abilities.

While the price is high, it is not the only lens at that price around. Leica has two current lenses at that and higher prices. Exotic Canon f1.0 sells for more as an old used lens with far less performance at any any aperture that the Otus wide open.

What it is, is the first lens designed to mount on Canon and Nikon bodies that is modern and takes no prisoners in the IQ department.

Wow, the Nikkor 58 f/1.4 lens only somewhat catches up with Zeiss 55 f/1.4 lens at f/11 when diffraction starts to creep in. Even the antiquated Canon 50 f/1.4 performs better than the Nikkor 58 f/1.4 lens which is touted as "a premium standard lens for Nikon's full frame SLRs... designed to give the best possible imaging performance even when shot at maximum aperture." The hefty price tag accompanying the Nikkor 58 f/1.4 only adds further insult to injury.

Id rather it, If only it could be mounted on SLRs. I dont think anyone who owns a Leica doesnt want summicrons. Only when you need need need that seperation between the stops (or going out to shoot in the dark) is when id want a faster lens. And if nocturnal sbooting is the question, go a Nocton! Or Voights f1.1.

Not saying much, most slow f-stop lenses from the same line will outperform their faster counterparts, no matter what the f-stop is set at. An f/1.4 at f/8 won't be as sharp as an f/1.8 set at f/8.0 because the difficulty in making an f/1.4 "as good" as an f/1.8 is much higher. Make the lens an f/8.0 to start with, and it has the potential to beat anything else, but you'll never have speed, just superb resolution.

A lot of opinions about this lens. I have it, I love it and I'm glad I bought it. I hope they produce macro (or micro) short telephoto soon. I'll buy that too. I have lenses for ever. I buy and use them for decades. Frankly if its expensive I think about it longer but if its good I will but it anyway and this lens is simply superior. I'll have some more PLEASE!

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